Aeroplane



March 2 1926.

J. F. D. SMITH AEROPLAN'E Filed April 15, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet-l WITNESSES INVENTOR J I. D. .SIIZ/L.

ATTORNEYS March 2 1926. 1,575,286

I J. F. D. SMITH AEROPLANE Filed April 15 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 2, 1926.

.ron1v FIN NIE DOWNIE SMITH, o1? ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

annozenaivn.

To all whamet may mam,-

Be; it known that 1, JO N Fnvnns Dowmn SMITH, a subject of the, King of Great Britain, and a resident of Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful linproveinents, in Aeroplanes, of which the fo ewing is aspecificati n.

, This invention relates to device, for con '10 troll ng and propelling a veh cle and is more partlcnlarly dlrected to a dev ce for.

operat ng an aeroplane An object of the invention is the pro vision of a device for causing elevating or lowering of an aeroplane and also for steering the plane and so" cooperatively related that the elevating and steering, devices may i be combined for reversely driving the plane or for aiding in stopping the plane in a short space. i u

A further object of the invention is the provision of a CQHi'lQiIlELlSiOIlQf devices for steering and elevating 0r lowering an aeroplane in the fo'rmot- Wings which may be brought together to form apocket adjacent the propellerfor forcing the aeroplane in a reverse direction, y i

This invention Will behest understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, in View of the accompanying drawing forming a part of the specification; nevertheless it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the disclosure, being susceptible of such changes and n odi? fications which shall define no material departure from; the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In t e d wings:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of-an aeroplane equipped with acolnbined steering and elevating device. 1

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same, I

Figure 8 is an end view of the combined steering and-elevatingplanes in closed po sition. I

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the cooperating elevating and steering planes in open position. a

Fgure 5 is a. plan view of the sinfucture shown in Figure 4;; a

Application filed April 15, 19251 'Sieriat No. 23,310;

' Figlllj 6 is: a Side elevation of the same Figure 7 is a top. plan vievv of an aeroplane equipped With the propeller in rear of the lifting plane.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of'the struc ture shown in Figure. 7. V i V In aeroplanes generally a rudder is supplied atthe tail of the eerOlllane and the tail planes are usually equipped with elevators r d cen of he aeroplane-r The e e at and rudder are operated through independ em con ro s a a e ot c erdinated any manner, each performing its function independently of the. other. In the present instance I have combined; the elevators and the rudders in such a cooperative manner that. they may form aclosed pocket at some point adjacent r in ine With h pr p ller l of; theforrn of pusher plane 2. In this type of'pl ne the propeller i lo ted a the rear of the liftingplanes' 3 and tends to push the plane forwardlyrather than pull it as. in the case of the propeller located'in front of the planes see Figures 7" and 8 for propeller in rear of plane,

According to the present construttionl h veprovicled a pair o horizon l haft l andfi at right angles to a. pair of vertical shafts 6, andi, Rigidly mounted by means of sleeves 8 to the shaft 4 and rockable with said shaft-is. a triangular shaped elevator 9 curved along a definite. areas shown at 10. Asecond elevator is shown at 11 and is similar in shape to the elevator 9. The lovver elevator is rigidly connected by means of sleeves 1 2, to-the shaft- 5, and is rocked by sai shaf ow rd o way rom t e elevator 9. A pair of rudders 13. and 14: are

rigidly connected tosleeves 15 to the re spective sleeves 6 and 7 and; are rocked simultaneously by the simultaneous rocking of said shafts. Thesesh'afts may be connected in any approved manner With a hand lever l cat d djacent th ld i s seatlhenupper edge 16 of the rudders 13 and 14C conform to the adjacent curved edges 10 of the elevators 9 vvhilehthe lovver edges 17 of said rudders conform to the, curvature of the curved sides 18 of the elevator 11, The

rudders have their outer free ends sheared O" l I 6D I ivhichwvhen, operated will effect the riding peller upon the elevators and off as shown at 19 to form straight sides, with the straight sides 19 adapted to be brought in close contact as shown at 20 in Figure 3. The elevator 9 is moved downwardly and has its free end. as shown at 21 engaging the closed rudders at a point adjacent the rear of the contacting edges 19 and with the curved edges 10 in close contact with the upper curved edges 16 of the rudders 13 and 14. The curved edges 18 of the elevator 11 are brought into close contact with the lower curved edges 17 of the rudders 13 and 14 so that a closed pocket is provided in which the air which is forced rearwardly by the propeller 1 is engaged by this pocket and tends to force the pusher plane rearwardly.

It will be noted that the elevators 9 and 11 are shorter than the rudders 13 and 14 so that the ends of the elevators terminate short of the vertical edge 19 of the rudders. It must be borne in mind that while Ihave shown the ends of the rudders 13 and 14 sheared off as at 19 the same may be formed substantially triangular in shape and to conform to the shape of the elevators 9 and 11 and in this casethe outer ends 21 of the elevators will engage at a point where the free end of the rudders contact.

The rudders and elevators may operate in any approved meanner for respectively guiding the plane or for causing elevating or lowering of the same by any approved means now in use. It must be further borne in mind that the combined rudders and elevators when brought to closed position form not only a pocket to cause the pusher plane tobe driven in a reverse direction but will aid in bringing a plane to an early stop after the same lands upon a field and with such a construction the pocket will tend to cause a reverse direction and therefore bring 'a plane to such an early stop when lighting that the planes may make a landing upon the roof of a building. It is evident from a consideration of Figure 6 of the drawingthat only the elevator 1.1 is shorter than the rudders 13 and 14, the elevator 9 being of the same length.

In Figures 7. and 8 I show a pusher propeller plane without a tail and without a rear control, and while rear controls are shown in some figures of the drawing it is understood that in some instances they may not be necessary.

In the construction shown in Figures 7 and 8 it will be noted that the pusher propeller is located in a line between the lifting plane and the elevators and rudders thus getting practically a direct action of the prorudders. What I claim is: 1. In an aeroplane, 'apair of elevators spaced from each other, a pair of rudders adjacent the elevators, said elevators and rudders being adapted to be moved towards each other in such a manner as to form apocket to receive air currents from the pro peller and either retard the forward movement of the plane or for moving the plane rearwardly.

2. In an, aeroplane, a pair of vertical shafts spaced from each other, a pair of horizontal shafts spaced from each other, a rudder connected with each vertical shaft, and an elevator connected with each horizontal shaft, and means for moving the elevators towards each other and means for moving the rudders towards each other in such a manner that the rudders and elevators will forma pocket to be effected by the air current from the propeller of the the aeroplane to retard the forward movement of the aeroplane or for causing the aeroplane to be moved rearwardly. 35

3. In an aeroplane, a pair of vertical shafts spaced from each other, a pair of horizontal shafts spaced from each other,

a rudder connected with each vertical shaft,

and an elevator connected with each horizontal shaft, and means for moving the elevators towards'each other and means for moving the rudders towards each other in such a manner that the rudders and elevators will form a pocket to be effected by the air current from the propeller of the aeroplane to retard the forward movement of the aeroplane or for causing the aeroplane to be moved rearwardly, said eleva tors being curved towards each other, said rudders being curvedtowards each other, the rudders andelevators having their outer ends reduced so that the said ends-may be moved into close engagement.

4. In an aeroplane, a pair of vertical shafts spaced from each other, a pair of horizontal shafts spaced from each other, arudder connected with each vertical shaft, and an elevator connected with each horizontal shaft, the upper edges of the rudders being sheared off to form curve'd upper edges, said elevators being triangular inshape and curved downwardly, said elevators and rudders being adapted, when moved towards each other, to form a closed pocket to receive air currents from the propeller of the plane. 3

5. In an aeroplane, a pair ofz vertical shafts spaced from each "othena pairof horizontal shafts spaced from each other,

a rudder connected witheach vertical shaft, and an elevator connected with each hori zontal shaft, the elevators being triangular in shape, the rudders having vertical edges where connected to the vertical shaft, the upper edges being curved downwardly with their outer ends being vertical, the triangular shaped elevators, when moved towards each other, and the rudders when moved towards each other, being adapted to form a closed pocket with the side edges of the elevators engaging the upper curved edges and the lower horizontal edges of the rudders.

6. In an aeroplane, the combination with the lifting planes and elevators and rudders in rear thereof, of a propeller located between the lifting planes and the elevating .vide a closed pocket so that when the air is forced towards the pocket the forward movement of the plane will be retarded or v the movement of the plane Will be reversed.

J. F. DOWNIE SMITH. 

